In medical and other professions and industries, it is well known to attach a handwritten message to equipment in order to indicate status, maintenance or replacement needs related to the equipment. Transparent or opaque tape can attach a piece of paper to equipment. Adhesive labels can be adhered to equipment. Tags can be attached with strings, zip ties, straps or tape. With a pen, marker or pencil, information is written on a paper or writable plastic surface of the tag or label, or directly on dressings, medication vials, medical devices and containers.
While information may be entered into computer systems, having a durable record of current information attached to a respective piece of equipment can provide direct and throughput communication. This is especially vital in the medical profession, where information physically, visibly attached to equipment can indicate recent usage, measurement, maintenance carried out or needed, notification of treatment, notification for product change out dates due to expirations or an indication of product, procedure or treatment completed. Such information can get communicated across shift changes and among personnel without direct person to person contact, and is less likely to be overlooked than when the information resides in a computer, on a clipboard, chart or other location physically separate from the equipment.
Medical providers utilize medical devices for therapies and treatments, many of which have a primary and secondary expiration date. Many devices, products, apparatuses, tools, instruments, pieces of equipment, compounds, fluids, foods, fats, medications, and the like have a viable lifetime with an expiration date depending how they are used. Other industries may have devices and substances with single or multiple expiration dates. When these devices are used over time, or used after the viable lifetime or the expiration date, the risks of complications multiply and/or the product begins to degrade; therefore the device must be replaced or changed out. Germs begin proliferating after time and the device must be changed out to reduce risks and complications related to infection control. Other risks in the hospital or healthcare setting include hospital acquired infections, blood clots, blood stream infections, dressing infections, air embolism, and poor device or product performance. Therefore, it is desired or required to change out materials or provide maintenance once a specified usage time has elapsed.
There is a great need for implementing measures to ensure compliance to change out intervals, thereby reducing risks of infection and complications. Yet, as a result of shortages of nursing and healthcare providers of different disciplines and pressures for hospitals to make profits, infection control measures and methods of delivering care have been found to be inconsistent. Compliance audits performed by facilities have also shown infection control and product safety compliance are inconsistent. Hospital acquired infections have increased in clinical settings. Preventable events such as contaminated drugs or devices, incompatible blood transfusions, air embolism, decubitus, certain hospital acquired infections including urinary tract infections, hospital acquired pneumonia, bloodstream infections, surgical site infections, insertion site infections, wrong preparation of medications, patient death or serious disability associated with the use or function of a device in a patient's care in which the device is used for functions or in a manner other than intended, any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered is contaminated by toxic substances, or a line is crossed over to another device with similar attaching ports, would be greatly decreased if critical information could be communicated more reliably on site.
Other industries and professions benefit from communication of critical information on site. For example, electrical and power cords are often difficult to identify as to which power source goes with which device. Electrical lines from power boxes often need to be retraced to determine the identity of the line. Safety, efficiency and ease of use of equipment can be improved with direct, visible communication of information relating to the equipment.